Thursday, September 21, 2006

Or really I should say, someone else is demanding rights for illegals that do not belong to illegals. That is really what is happening here and has been so for the past few years. Illegal aliens are not necessarily demanding anything themselves, they are simply coming over and working, taking advantage of what has been made available to them. It is the special interests groups and unions that are demanding these "rights" on their behalf, using the people as leverage. Case in point, below is an article from the AFL-CIO website stating there intentions, along with a Hotel Workers union, to stage a massive protest on Century Blvd. right on the corridor leading to LAX. For those of you who may not be familiar as to how significant this may be, LAX is the Los Angeles international Airport. There is literally one major street that leads to LAX that everyone must take in order to get into the airport and that street is Century Blvd. Such a large scale protest could potentially shutdown any traffic leading to or from the airport. As the article below states, the organizers of this event believe that immigrants (illegal aliens) who work here deserve more pay from corporations who hire them. Too many are living at poverty levels. Yet, if that is the case, then why are they still here? Think about it, if these immigrants (illegal aliens) came here to secure better living conditions, better wages, etc., and now that they are here, they are still living at poverty levels, then why not go somewhere else? Why not go back to their country of origin? Why not? Because the reality is that in spite of there relatively low wages, they are still making more money over here than they did in their home country, plain and simple. Living in a one bedroom apartment in L.A. is not the same as living in a run down shack in some 3rd world nation. This is why many immigrants (read : illegals) come here, because in essence they realize that even at its worst, the living conditions and wages in America is still better than where they came from.

This is just another attempt at political pandering to rally the masses and gain some type off leverage with government in order for special interest groups and social organizations to fill their coffers. The people on the streets doing the protesting may get a bone thrown at them for this but it will be the upper echelon of these Unions and special interest organizations that reap the full benefits, both political and monetary.

I have to admit though, I agree with this notion of exploitation, these so called immigrants are being exploited by the corporations and also by these Unions and special interest groups who profess to be looking out for their best interests. The difference is at least these immigrants are being paid by the corporations for their efforts.

Its the same old song._____________________________

The We Are America Coalition Joins Hotel Workers in Holding the Largest Civil Disobedience in the History of Los AngelesOn September 28, 2006 the We Are America Coalition along with UNITE HERE, immigrant workers, religious leaders, community members, students, and immigrant rights leaders will march and hundreds will risk arrest to demand an end to the exploitation of immigrant workers. The march and civil disobedience will take place on the Century Corridor near the Los Angeles International Airport, an area with over a dozen hotels that employ thousands of immigrant workers. The protest will shut down Century Blvd. For several hours during rush hour traffic in the largest act of non-violent civil disobedience on record in the history of Los Angeles.

Millions of immigrant workers in the service sector in the United States earn poverty wages without access to affordable health care. “We know that once immigrants are able to obtain legal documents to remain in this country, the exploitation of immigrant workers by their employers continues,” said Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. “Millions of immigrant workers are living in extreme poverty. This is reprehensible and needs to change.”

Patty Simmons, a food server at the LAX Hilton and an immigrant from Peru explains how despite working two full time jobs she struggles to make ends meet. “I spent three months separated from my husband and baby when we became homeless because we couldn't afford to pay rent. Now I work 18 hours a day and we live in one bedroom in a friend's apartment.”

We Are America and UNITE HERE's press conference to announce this historic action comes on the heals of an announcement by House Republicans that they will not support the Senate Reid-Kennedy amnesty bill and will pass a new legislative package to strengthen border security.

The immigrant rights groups will continue to focus efforts on legalization and to defend immigrants from legislative attacks but will expand their campaign to also address issues of discrimination and exploitation that immigrant workers face while in this country. “Congress is focused on passing legislation that does nothing to address the issues of discrimination and exploitation immigrants face in this country. We can not allow corporations to exploit immigrant workers for their own profit while hard working immigrants don't have enough money to feed their children, pay the rent, or access to healthcare,” said Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.